On their self titled record from 1996, The Candy Snatchers ripped their way through sixteen high octane tracks in a little over half an hour, setting a brilliant punky blueprint that would suit the band going forward. With tunes like ‘Yeah You’ and ‘Haunted Road’ playing like an unholy hybrid of the Misfits and Electric Frankenstein, and ‘Sauced Again’ tapping into some even more razor sharp rock ‘n’ roll, the band immediately set themselves in place as a force to be reckoned with.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
LUNISON – Fakepink
Lunison’s debut EP ‘See Me As A Friend’ – released in 2024 – presented five tracks where a rock sound was twisted into some very interesting shapes. Its key cuts showed how varied the band could be: ‘Name 3 Songs’ managed to open with a riff that mixed garage rock and an almost post-grunge dirtiness, only to turn that on its head with a huge, melodic chorus full of ringing guitars sounding like a throwback to a great Gin Blossoms tune; ‘Smile, Cruel World’ borrowed from a couple of The Black Keys’ more groove-centric numbers, but added a more melodic vocal, again, calling back to a world of 90s pop-rock sounds, and ‘Velcro’ introduced a reverbed, 50s guitar twang in places, which set against a pumping bass and harmony vocals ended up sounding like a funky take on something from Arctic Monkeys ‘AM’.
Watch: Beauty In Chaos share “almost acoustic” version of ‘Made Of Rain’
Back in 2024, Beauty In Chaos released ‘Made of Rain’, a brilliant single featuring Ashton Nyte that blended the melodic air of 80s goth with a slightly heavier chorus. A year on, the number has been reworked in an “almost acoustic” format, and it is absolutely gorgeous.
SILVER DOLLAR ROOM – It Can’t Rain All The Time
With ‘Gilded Echoes’, Scotland’s Silver Dollar Room released one of the best albums of 2024. The band’s sound wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, but they clearly recognised the value of taking influences and using them very effectively. With strong call backs to Bush, an influence from early Smashing Pumpkins, and nods melodic post-grungers like Moist, the material adopted a solid sound throughout, and with the aid of various thoughtful lyrics – often touching on themes of mental health – a familiar sound still had a great relevance at the time of release.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Wish You Were Here: 50 Years Later
In 2024, Pale Wizard Records did the unthinkable. They pulled together a bunch of underground rock bands and had them each contribute a track to a 50th anniversary tribute to Sparks’ career defining ‘Kimono My House’. Since none of the bands had much in common with Ron and Russell Mael’s distinctive and visionary sound, it shouldn’t have worked. With that record, Pale Wizard managed to pull off the even more unthinkable: they not only masterminded a very different take on an old classic, but they had the balls to know it would work on its own merits.
A year on, could they achieve similar greatness by asking some of the same faces to put their own stamp on Pink Floyd fan favourite ‘Wish You Were Here’? In terms of tall orders, that’s positively gargantuan when none of the clientele come from the school of prog rock. The featured artists don’t even have a “classic” sound in most cases. Nevertheless, everyone gives the material a square go, for better or worse.